Data leaks occur when organizations fail to implement proper cybersecurity measures, causing sensitive data and other personally identifiable information (PII) to be exposed to the public. In most cases, data leaks occur due to internal human errors, an oversight by the IT committee, or a lack of strong security practices.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) initiative to adopt the Executive Order for Zero Trust is heating up. This week the Pentagon’s CIO, John Sherman, announced plans to implement a zero trust architecture agency-wide within the next 5 years – by 2027. To support this initiative, he plans to announce a new strategy next month to help meet the ambitious deadline for an agency of over 4 million people.

Even before the pandemic, many companies had a relaxed approach to the devices employees brought to work. In fact, many businesses had BYOD (bring your own device) policies that allowed team members to work on personal laptops or cell phones. By one account, 75% of employees use their personal cell phones for work. The rise of remote work has only escalated the use of tablets, laptops, and mobile phones for professional use.

Every year, business owners grapple with the same question: how can I keep my data safe? The cost of a data leak can quickly escalate to over $7 million per incident, not to mention the damage to a business’s brand reputation and competitive advantage. And, unfortunately, cyber attacks are getting more sophisticated every year. There are many solutions on the market to help businesses protect their information.

Many organizations want to leverage encryption in their environments. This usually starts off with encrypting data and devices that physically leave the organization. External USB drives with encryption or internal drive encryption on laptops using BitLocker for example. We have all heard stories of secret government documentation being left behind on the train or a laptop with employee information being left in a Taxi while traveling.

Amazon’s Relational Database Service (AWS RDS) allows you to offload the responsibility of managing a database, but it also comes with the risk of another external dependency. Fortunately, AWS provides some tools and settings to help with this. When you combine your existing data security policy with the AWS tooling and the advice in this article, you'll be well on your way to managing risk more effectively. Let's dive in with 15 AWS RDS data security best practices.

In the context of hybrid work, the threat of data loss is rampant. Cybersecurity systems that were once designed to operate within the confines of a network perimeter have become obsolete, with employees using various devices, networks, and applications to get their work done. As such, it’s easier than ever for companies to be vulnerable to the loss of sensitive data. So, what’s the solution? Recently, Digital Guardian published The Definitive Guide to DLP: 2021 Hybrid Work Edition.

Lateral movement refers to the techniques that a cyber attacker uses. Once getting access to a corporate network, the attackers don’t stop there. They move around throughout the entire network, owning more computers and user accounts while exfiltrating data at the same time. They escalate their privileges to gain access to higher permissions and eventually access more confidential, critical and sensitive data.